summary — sherry seeks comfort from a mild fear of the rain and grace just wants to be near her family.
Leon had a sense for the rain, he’d known that it was raining before he even fully opened his eyes; if it hadn’t been for the ache in his shoulder to clue him in it would have been the damp breeze coming in from the open window. The screen kept out the worst of it but the sill still collected a little mist that lingered in the air giving it a nice crisp quality.
It wasn’t a bad way to wake up, nice even. It was ironic to think that sleeping with the window cracked used to set his heart off kilter but now it only reminded him of the person who slept beside him, a woman who’d been sleeping with the window open since as far back as she could remember. Claire ran hot in her sleep and as always she’d shoved most of the blankets to his side of the bed, in turn he’d wrapped around them in his sleep, mistaking them for her.
Pushing them away now he stretched an glanced at the clock.
It was barely past six and he debated attempting to catch a few more hours of sleep but his senses were keen and from the corner of his eye he caught a shadow under their door and heard the rustle of what was likely a comforter wrapped around narrow shoulders. Claire, who was more awake than he’d realized, dug under the blanket until she could nudge directly at his side.
“Which one is that?” She mumbled against her pillow, voice still rough with sleep.
“Doors closed, can’t tell,” Leon yawned, sometimes they kept it open. On days when Grace had been more anxious than usual or when the weather called for something loud and obtrusive that might spook someone below double digits. The mornings rain had been unexpected and as such the bedroom door had remained closed all night.
Leon stifled another yawn. “Wanna bet on it?”
“Mmm,” Claire rolled onto her back and stretched as she blinked her eyes open for the first time. “S’raining, I’d say Sherry.”
Leon didn't say as much but he agreed with Claires call. He tried not to groan as he shoved back the blankets and stood from the bed, ignoring the twinge in his back. He ran a hand through his hair in an attempt to tame the wild mess he usually woke up with but with the door to the ensuite cracked and a glance in the mirror told him it hadn’t done much.
He opened the door carefully in case anyone was leaning against it.
On the other side was, as Claire had guessed, Sherry. She wasn’t crying or overly distraught but there was tension in her posture and she was nibbling on her bottom lip, a nervous tick she’d picked up from Grace.
“Hey there kiddo, rain wake you up?”
Sherry shrugged. The rain always made Sherry anxious, it wasn’t a debilitating problem but the anxiety was doubled when she was feeling small.
“Just wanted to check on you,” She said in a small voice.
“That’s fine, Sher, you wanna go see mom?”
Sherry didn’t respond before she nudged passed Leon into their bedroom and made a quick shot to the bed. Sherry was careful as she climbed in, bringing her blanket with her and settling as close to Claire as was physically possible. Claire let out a surprised laugh and draped an arm over Sherry’s shoulders, skimming down her arm with the pads of her fingers in the way that always made Sherry shiver.
Leon’s feelings might have been hurt if he didn’t know how much Sherry hated to be apart from Claire when she was having any kind of memory related to Raccoon City. Leon wasn’t even sure Sherry was aware of where her rain hang up came from but he and Claire always theorized it had something to do with that night.
“G’morning bug,” Claire pressed a kiss to Shery’s temple.
“Hate the rain,” Sherry murmured.
“It’s not so bad,” Leon reasoned as he settled back into his side of the bed. “There are a lot of fun things to do in the rain, we could play in the mud.”
Sherry didn't look impressed which is exactly why Leon had said it, something to tease a smile out of her.
“He just likes to make messes,” Claire said conspiratorially as though Leon wasn’t right there, it was worth it to watch Sherry crack a small grin.
“Gracie wouldn’t like that,” Sherry said quietly her face lapsing back into a little pout. Sherry was always thinking about what Grace would or would not like, despite being younger in this frame of mind the instincts of an older sister never really left.
“Yeah, you’re right, bug,” Claire nodded, still skimming her fingers up and down Sherry’s arm lazily. “She might like jumping in a puddle or two though.”
Clarie looked to Leon for his input and Leon pretended to ponder it deeply. “She might but we’d have to make sure it wasn’t too deep, Grace might just fall in.”
Claire nodded very seriously. “Oh that's right, I hadn't thought about that, we’d have to fish her out with a pool net.”
“Have to go buy one, we don’t even have a pool.’
Claire clicked her tongue and sighed. “See there’s the problem, if we had a pool maybe Gracie wouldn’t go swimming in puddles.”
Sherry watched their back and forth with rapt attention before laughing and reaching over to push at Leon much like Claire had just minutes earlier.
“You guys are silly,” she said. “You can’t swim in a puddle, plus mama would get her out, she wouldn’t even need a net.”
Sherry looked to Claire for affirmation and Leon watched as Claire's face did that thing it did when she was trying not to smush one of the girls face and bombard them with kisses.
“Yeah bug, I wouldn’t let Grace fall in,” she said and then a moment later, “or you.”
“I wouldn’t either,” Leon interrupted, followed by a wide, jaw-clicking yawn. “Just for the record.”
Sherry, finally taking some pity on Leon, went fishing in the blankets until she found his arm, tugging until Leon took the hint and hauled himself into Sherry and Claire's little bubble.
“Think we could get a little more sleep kiddo?” Leon asked.
Sherry fought off a yawn as she picked Leon’s hand up to play with his fingers. She shrugged but her head lolled against Claire’s shoulder like she might be flagging.
“No puddles,” She murmured.
Leon huffed. “No puddles, promise.”
“M’kay then, we can sleep a little bit,” Sherry agreed after the topic of rain and puddles and mud had been settled. “But only a little.”
“Only a little,” Claire repeated. “You hear that Kennedy?”
“Mm, yeah, loud and clear boss,” Leon replied, already half asleep against Sherry.
–
The next time Leon woke it wasn’t to the rain or any suspicious rustling from outside the door. This time, it was a little tingling sense in the back of his mind, the kind that developed after years in the field and a need for constant hyper vigilance. He jerked with a start and immediately cursed when his head knocked back against Sherry’s shoulder. He blinked the bleariness from his eyes like he might be seeing things. Above him, knees pressed into the mattress, peering down, was Grace.
“You said a bad word,” She said matter of factly.
Leon had half a mind to groan but he refrained as he rubbed at the back of his head and patted Sherry’s side to soothe her. She’d only whined a little when Leon startled against her but he still felt a little guilty.
“Sorry, kiddo.”
“It’s okay,” Grace said, inviting herself to sit crisscross beside Leon. “D-did you guys have a s-sleepover without me?”
Grace didn’t sound sad so much as she sounded nervous, worried they might be excluding her. Leon’s heart squeezed in his chest and he shook his head. He opened his arm giving grace the chance to duck under it if she chose, sometimes she was less touchy than others.
“‘Course not Gracie girl,” Leon promised. Grace didn’t fully climb under his arm like Sherry might have but she inched closer, going up on her knees by his side and rocking forward to look down at him again. Her glasses were crooked on her face and Leon moved to fix them for her even as she scrunched her nose. “You know how Sher doesn’t always like the rain so much?”
Grace thought about it and nodded for Leon to continue.
“Sometimes she comes and finds us, it’s less scary when we’re all together,” Leon explained. “Do you like the rain?”
Leon realized he’d never asked before, though both himself and Claire were perceptive, they would have noticed.
Grace was thoughtful over the question, as she was with even the most mundane of questions, and finally nodded her head.
“That so? In that case we were talking about puddling jumping later if you’re interested.”
Grace’s nose scrunched up again and she brought her shoulders to her ears, her whole body recoiling at the idea. Leon tried to keep his laugh low at her reaction.
“Yeah, that’s about how Sherry thought you’d react.”
"I like the rain outside," Grace insisted. "and I can stay inside."
"Yeah? Gonna stay bundled up with us, kiddo?"
Grace looked nervous again and she shrugged. "Is that okay?"
Leon rubbed a hand absentmindedly up her back and Grace leaned into it like a cat might. He smiled to himself.
"It's always okay."
Stirred even by quiet voices, Sherry twisted around until she was pressed into Leon’s shoulder in a way he couldn’t imagine was comfortable. She whined a little but Leon and Claire had learned over the many times she’d been small with them that she was just fussy when she slept. Leon attempted to reposition her in a way that looked more comfy but she huffed and rolled back over.
Grace giggled and rocked forward again, her knees digging into Leon’s side in a way that was mildly painful but he didn’t mind.
“Sorry you were alone, Gracie,” he said sincerely. “It wasn’t on purpose, promise.”
Leon extended his pinky and Grace took it on her own with ease. “I believe you,” she said. “Sherry’s littler than me anyways…”
“Sometimes,” Leon agreed. “But even if she was your age it’d be okay if she needed us. Just like it’d be okay if you needed us.”
“But I’m bigger,” Grace said plainly.
Leon looked at Grace skeptically, poking at her side until she squirmed and laughed. “I don’t know, look pretty small to me.”
Grace batted at Leon’s hands because it seemed all Leon's girls enjoyed nudging, poking, or swatting at him, which was the last straw for Claire who finally stuck her head up from where she’d buried it under the pillow. Her hair was half free and half still in the ponytail from the night before and she was squinting against the light from the window.
“This guy bothering you?” She asked Grace, jerking her thumb towards Leon.
It had the intended effect which was making Grace laugh but if Sherry was a momma's girl then Grace was in her dads pocket. She shook her head and nibbled on her lip to keep from grinning.
“Okay,” Claire said skeptically. “Well in that case, I’m putting both of you on breakfast duty.”
It was funny, Leon thought, because he was always on breakfast duty. Claire could hardly boil water without fear of the house catching fire.
“Hear that, Gracie, we’re being put to work.”
“Can we make french toast?”
“And waffles,” Sherry said, still seemingly half asleep and muffled against Leon’s shoulder. Claire laughed at that and shrugged.
“You heard them Kennedy, french toast and waffles.”
“Any requests for you, boss?” Leon asked as he hauled himself up, taking Grace with him and letting her play jungle gym as she hung off of his shoulders like a little monkey. For all she could be touch averse she was the most prone to climbing Leon like he was a tree house and with talk of sweets and a chance to be Leon’s chef’s assistant she was extra riled up.
“Just coffee,” Claire said.
“On it,” Leon replied, leaning over Sherry with a hand braced on the bed so he could get a quick peck. Sherry was having none of it, ever possessive of her mom, and her hand smushed against his face. Leon snorted and pressed a kiss to her palm instead. “See you downstairs, ladies, say bye bye monkey.”
Grace waved and Claire waved back with a fond smile. “Keep him outta trouble until we get down there, okay Gracie?”
“Okay!”
Grace clung onto Leon as they descended the stairs with her head resting lazily on his shoulder. There was a chance she was still tired, she was far more likely to stay up past bedtime on her switch under the covers, but her enthusiasm seemed to buoy her at the very least. By the time he set her down on the counter she was ready to begin taking instructions, she loved to crack the eggs and whenever Leon pulled out the whisk she seemed particularly excited.
Sherry and Claire trickled down eventually as Leon and Grace were finishing up some eggs and by the time they were all eating breakfast – Sherry perched on Leon’s knee while Claire praised Grace’s culinary skills until the girl was red in the face – the rain that still tapped gently against the window seemed far out of mind.
a/n: I slipped in a little reference, tell me if you caught it
—
It was late, and you wanted nothing more than to just turn off, but every time you closed your eyes, a knot of anxiety tightened in your chest. It was terrible, and was making your headache and want to toss things.
Vi stepped into the room, grumbling something about a long day at work. She took one look at you sitting with your knees to your chest, in the middle of the mattress, wrapped in a blanket and pouting with your eyes red.rimmed, both from lack of sleep and weeping softly, and her shoulders softened.
"Oh, look at you," Vi murmured, her voice humming into a softer register, nearly a croon, that she only used when you were small, "Still fighting it, huh, kiddo?"
You let out a small, trembling huff and pulled the blankie tighter around your shoulders, refusing to look at her. You didn't want to be stubborn, you just couldn't sleep and it was making you fussy.
Vi walked over, the floorboards groaning softly. She sat down right on the edge of the mattress, "Brain won't shut up?" she asked gently.
You nodded once, a tear finally spilling over and tracking down your cheek. You hated feeling this tired and this helpless.
"Come here," she said, opening her arms.
You sniffled and crawled across the blankets and collapsed against her side, burying your face into the side of her neck. Vi’s strong arms wrapped around you. Her hands were rough, covered in calluses and old scars, but to you, they were the safest things in the whole world. She was a wall between you and whatever was making you anxious.
"You don't gotta force it," Vi murmured, her chest vibrating against you as she spoke, which was a lullaby within itself to you, "We can just sit here, peanut."
She began to rock you back and forth in a soft motion. She started tracing slow circles on your back.
"Did I ever tell you about the time Powder tried to build a mechanical rat?" Vi asked softly, her voice taking on a casual, storytelling tone, but still equally as gentle, "She wanted it to steal snacks from Jericho’s shop. It didn't work, it mostly just spun in circles and eventually caught on fire, but man, she was so proud of that thing..."
You listened to the low rumble of her voice, letting the words wash over you without really trying to process them. The thoughts that had been bouncing around your head started to lose their sharp edges, fizzing out.
A massive, jaw cracking yawn caught you off guard. One you could equate to a cat.
Vi let out a quiet, teasing chuckle, leaning her chin gently against the top of your head. "Oh big yawn, yeah? Those lids are looking pretty heavy, little one."
"Not tired," you mumbled into her shirt, your voice soft and small, though your eyes were already half closed.
"Sure you aren't," Vi said, her tone full of affection. She shifted slightly, pulling you down with her as she leaned back against the pillows, "But just in case you change your mind, I should let you know... the monsters are afraid of me. So you're safe."
Hearing those words, the last bit of that anxious energy that had been pent up drained from you, letting yourself fall asleep in her arm, as you felt her gently kiss the crown of you head.
can you do grace ashcroft cg hcs? just general ones if you haven't done her already ^^
Grace Ashcroft cg headcanons:
Very lenient cg, but she does learn to say no more as time goes on. She still does sometimes need backup, and often keeps in touch with Leon, so he sometimes calls, and on rare occasions can even come over to hang out!
I think she would do best with toddlers/kids, seeing how she cared for Emily. Speaking of Emily, she's there too! Grace took her in post re9, so shes like a sister to you! Grace sometimes has her hands full caring for both of you simultaneously, but she gets the job done.
She still has anxiety and ptsd, plus misses her mom. Sometimes she even accidentally regresses with you. Give her time, she's trying. After more time goes on, shes able to handle those moments better, but if you ever asked she'd be more than happy to be little with you!
Enjoys going on long walks, especially during fall or winter! Not active in a sporty sense, but does enjoy doing simple things outside, and just walking around is one of her favorite things to do! You can talk or just stay quiet, she doesn't mind. She also holds your hand the entire way!
I think she likes to bake more than she likes to cook. She can still cook, but baking is where her talent REALLY shines. She loves making special treats, and even has you help decorate them together! Of course this often leads to a bigger mess, but hey, at least it turned out good.
She caries a photo of all three of you whenever she's at work. She still sometimes worries that she might never return, so she wants to keep some small part of you with her. She also loves small matching jewelry or other accessories in general.
Does things her mom did to her when she was little. Singing to sleep, fun stories, rubbing your back, weird home remedies, anything. It makes her feel more connected to you, while also feeling like her mom isn't truly gone. If you have a tradition or something you do, she'd be happy to help carry it on!
She also gets hit with the ocd headcanon because im biased. Checking her phone multiple times a day to see if you're in danger, surveilling the house to make sure theres no intruders, constantly being on the lookout in public and freaking out when she gets the slightest hint of danger. It is a truly vicious cycle.
Takes up training to be able to protect you or herself. Often with Leon, she tries to become better at using weapons and hand to hand combat. She wants to be able to protect you at all cost, plus its a way for her to improve herself! It does leave her exhausted and unable to really care for you though...
Overall, she cares very deeply in her own way. She still has many demons shes battling on top of two people to take care of and a government job, but she will always make it work in the end. Every night she can, she makes sure to tuck you in and kiss you goodnight. An every morning that she can, she tries to see you before she leaves, since you help her keep going.
🪼 ) sherry and grace just sort of click. when grace shows up at the DSO to deliver the post operation report that’s expected of her sherry appoints herself as grace’s bodyguard and personal liaison and never leaves her side, the rest is history.
⌨️ ) grace loves to show sherry all her techy stuff because for how technologically savvy sherry can be there are things that elude her. sherry oohs and ahs at all the right spots when grace shows her the pc she built and her modded switch. she also doesn’t mind watching grace play, she gets very invested in whatever game she’s playing and will try to give grace advice even if she’s never played the game before .. grace mostly finds it silly and laughs a lot when sherry’s watching her play. sometimes sherry will play it up just to make grace grin.
🌀 ) sherry is a bit stricter when it comes to screen time. she lets grace have up to three hours a day plus some tv time in the evening but once her time is up she has to find something else to do. grace will mumble and whine about it but she does like it when sherry tries to teach her what grace has dubbed ‘one of her grandma hobbies’. sherry knows how to crotchet and play the piano, she’s been wanting to get into needle point and can make baked goods from scratch. grace is easily distracted with a task at hand but will get frustrated if she doesn’t immediately pick something up, sherry is super patient and doesn’t mind pausing her own project to repeat an instruction.
🩹 ) sherry is a cuddle bug and grace begrudgingly puts up with it. sherry is pretty much the only person grace lets in her bubble so often and even still she likes to pretend to be put out by it even though she enjoys it when sherry squishes her cheeks or peppers little kisses all over her face, sherry has a serious case of cuteness aggression she just can’t help it.
the family groupchat has so many photos from sherry of graces face smushed between her hands and sherry saying something like ‘look how cute this kid is!’ (everyone agrees and grace gets pouty and responds: 25 btw! everyone just thumbs down the message)
🧢 ) grace is a homebody. when she was a kid her mom moved around a lot, always chasing a new lead. when grace was a kid she was either left home alone with strict instructions that she could only go to school, the library, or home or she was told to stay put in the hotel room while her mom went off chasing an interview. she likes her own space.
sherry is the opposite. sherry enjoys long meandering walks outside, she likes running errands, she likes randomly deciding to drive an hour away to see what the lake in the next town over is like. the solitude simmons imposed on her made sherry an outside cat by nature. sherry has been slowly working grace out of her shell, taking her out to do things that grace would enjoy even if sherrys not all that interested. she takes her to hot topic and they spend at least half an hour looking at all the pins and giggling over the more silly ones. sherry lets grace talk her ear off about a fantasy series she read when they go to barnes and noble. sherry never minds when grace hold on tight to her hand or her shirt.
⌨️ ) sometimes grace has nightmares about the care center or raccoon city and the only thing that’ll calm her down is leon. sherry understands this better than anyone as someone who still gets nightmares of raccoon and finds herself calling claire at four in the morning. sherry will stay up on facetime with the two of them until grace passes out on her shoulder.
🌀 ) sherry is a perfect caregiver for grace because she acts more as a big sister than anything. she sets gentle little boundaries and gives her some house rules but for the most part she’s just there for grace to lean on. she loves having little slumber parties with grace where they paint nails and she lets grace go on and on about some trivial annoyance from the office. they invite hunnigan on occasion who shares dso lore and gossip, mostly just petty break room stuff but also some funny stories about leon’s less cool moments in the field.
what do you headcanon her love language(s?) & fav nicknames are? dunno why this post made me think of that…
hello hello ! i assume this is about grace ?! i think her love language would be quality time, she really enjoys just being in her loved ones presence even if they’re not doing anything particularly interesting. when she’s small she likes to have people watch her play her video games or even just watch her on the carpet putting legos together. she’s the type of kiddo to check in a lot with the widest eyes and go ‘you’re still watching right 🥺’ and she grins immediately once she knows she’s still got their attention. when her cg is busy she’ll sit on the counter swinging her feet or attempt to crawl under their desk while they work. for a kiddo who doesn’t always like touch she can be pretty clingy.
another one of her words of affirmation. this is how she enjoys being loved and also how she loves!! when she’s small especially she’s big on praise and letting people know they’re appreciated. if leon makes breakfast she says thanks with a big smile and tells him he did a really good job and probably nudges ada until she does the same which amuses both ada and leon. she’s a sucker for being told she’s got good manners. ada brushes some hair behind her ear, looks at her fondly, and says ‘what a sweet girl we’ve got’ and grace blushes and has to go hide (i also hc grace tends to hide when she gets flustered … they’ll find her under her bed or in the linen closet)
nicknames !! her all time favorite nickname is a gift from ada and it’s ‘kitty cat’ which comes from the fact that no matter how touchy grace is feeling she’ll always enjoy having her hair pet. leon calls her stuff like squirt and kiddo which she likes, kiddo especially, but he’s also the only person that calls her gracie so not only is it a favorite of hers but it feels special to her.. she doesn’t like for anyone else to call her that.
grace is normally pretty touch averse unless she’s out in public in which case she would like an adults hand to hold and often needs to be reminded to hold still and be patient while they take care of the more mundane aspects of running errands. if a hand is unavailable she’ll latch onto their shirt or the strap of their bag. if she could get away with it she’d willingly be one of those backpack leash kids .. so she could feel tethered to her safe person while also having some give to wander aways a bit when she gets curious over something.
⋆｡°✩ sophia fortier — a resident evil (agere) oc by nijntjedent
basic info: white, 25-years old, she/her lesbian, physically disabled
tw/s: references to canon-typical violence, ptsd,
read more below the cut!
(01) background
☆ sophia is the DSO's primary records manager. basically, she's the person who organizes, stores and documents all of their paperwork, as well as anything like evidence or other documents they find during a mission.
☆ she was inspired to join the fight against bioterror after surviving the a-virus outbreak in new york. while she didn't turn, sophia's exposure to the virus led to her developing life-long chronic fatigue, preventing her from ever working in the field. while her baseline is stable enough that she can work a desk job, it's not all that uncommon to find her sleeping in her chair at 10am.
☆ sophia survived the a-virus outbreak mostly unscathed, but how she passed the DSO's psych screening is anyone's guess. she was only 13 years old in 2014, and directly witnessed people turning or being attacked from her hiding place, under the counter inside a convenience store. suffice to say, she now struggles with ptsd.
☆ introvert, in the Ew, people… sense. she doesn't willingly leave her office unless she's physically carried out, she's getting her third coffee of the day, or she's leaving. her shifts are also far more consistent than most other agents; unless the world is ending, she will leave at 5pm and no later.
☆ sophia isn't exactly popular around the office. she's reclusive, she's very insistent on people submitting their work the way she likes it, and her anger issues are known to rival agent harper's. anyone close to her understands that it's mostly a result of her trauma, but does she let many people get that close? the answer is no.
(02) agere specific notes
⋆ sophia usually regresses between the ages of 5-8, but she does go younger occasionally.
⋆ her office might be filled with paperwork and containers of artifacts covered in BOW gunk, but it's the quietest and coziest place in the building, second only to hunnigan's office. no one ever walks in without her permission, and it's fitted out for specifically for her comfort. her favorite place is her sofa, with it's soft blankets and comfortable pillows.
⋆ the inherent vulnerability of being small can sometimes trigger sophia's ptsd. if she isn't on her couch, she'll be tucked away under her desk, the same way she hid from the infected in new york. sophia's biggest fear is being re-exposed to the virus, even though all DSO staff are vaccinated against known strains; it takes a lot of time and patience to reassure her that she's safe.
⋆ consequentially, sophia hates being alone while small, but she hates reaching out for help even more. the easiest way to tell if she's regressed is if she's still in her office past 5pm, acting as an unspoken invitation for company.
⋆ little sophia loves learning new things. sometimes she'll spend hours reading the paperwork she's supposed to be filing away, or get distracted learning about random things on wikipedia. one of her favorite things to do while small is have someone read a non-fiction book to her, while she dozes off in their lap.
(03) relationships
☆ ingrid hunnigan → close friend / primary cg
due to the nature of their positions, ingrid is the person that sophia speaks to most regularly, and she grew attached to the older woman in her first week at the DSO. let's just say the 'work' in 'work mom' was quickly discarded.
☆ helena harper → close friend / secondary cg
as the two problem children of the DSO, they get along like a house on fire. if helena ever needs to cool off after an argument with their coworkers, sophia's door is always open. if sophia wants someone to read a book about rabbit physiology to her, helena will find the time.
☆ leon s. kennedy → it depends on the day / occasional babysitter
one of sophia's heroes, and the main cause of her grief. while she has a lot of respect for him, that man does not know how to file his paperwork properly and refuses to learn her system. they are friendly with each other… usually.
ohhh my sweet angel ,,, it appears i have grown quite fond of you ,,, and 2 of these pics don't really match up w the rest but im going to say that's symbolism of something i will not be saying here ,,,,
titsay
izzy806
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